Name
and title:
Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte,
Napoleon 1st of France
Originally Napoleone Buonaparte,
also unofficially known as The Little Corporal (Le Petit
Caporal) and The Corsican
Dates:
Born: 15th August 1769 in Ajaccio,
Corsia
Married (Josephine): 9th March 1796 in Paris,
France
Married (Marie-Louise): 2nd April 1810 in Paris,
France
Died: 5th May 1821 on St. Helena
First Consul of
France: 1799 - 1804
Emperor of the French: 1804 - 1814,
1815
Biography of Napoleon Bonaparte:
One of the
greatest military commanders and a risk taking gambler; a
workaholic genius and an impatient short term planner; a
vicious cynic who forgave his closest betrayers; a misogynist
who could enthrall men; Napoleon Bonaparte was all of these
and more, the twice-emperor of France whose military endeavors
and sheer personality dominated Europe in person for a decade,
and in thought for a century.
Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on August 15th 1769
to Carlo
Buonaparte, a lawyer and political opportunist, and his
wife, Marie-Letizia
Bonaparte. The Buonaparte's
were a wealthy family from the Corsican nobility, although
when compared to the great aristocracies of France Napoleon's
kin were poor and pretentious. A combination of Carlo's social
climbing, Letizia's adultery with the Comte de Marbeuf -
Corsica's French military governor - and Napoleon's own
ability enabled him to enter the military academy at Brienne
in 1779. He moved to the Parisian École Royale Militaire in
1784 and graduated a year later as a second lieutenant in the
Artillery. Spurred on by his father's death early in February
1785, the future emperor had completed in one year a course
that often took three.
Despite being posted on the French mainland, Napoleon was
able to spend much of the next eight years in Corsica thanks
to his ferocious letter writing and rule bending, as well as
the effects of the French revolution and sheer good luck.
There he played an active part in political and military
matters, initially supporting the Corsican rebel Pasquale
Paoli, a former patron of Carlo Buonaparte. Military promotion
also followed, but Napoleon became opposed to Paoli and when
civil war erupted in 1793 the Buonapartes fled to France,
where they adopted the French version of their name:
Bonaparte. Historians have frequently used the Corsican affair
as a microcosm of Napoleon's career.
The French Revolution had decimated the republic's officer
class and favoured individuals could achieve swift promotion,
but Napoleon's fortunes rose and fell as one set of patrons
came and went. By December 1793 Bonaparte was the hero of
Toulon, a General and favourite of Augustin Robespierre;
shortly after the wheel of revolution turned and Napoleon was
arrested for treason. Tremendous political 'flexibility' saved
him and the patronage of Vicomte Paul de Baras, soon to be one
of France's three 'Directors', followed.
Napoleon became a hero again in 1795, defending the
government from angry counter-revolutionary forces; Baras
rewarded Napoleon by promoting him to high military office, a
position with access to the political spine of France.
Bonaparte swiftly grew into one of the country's most
respected military authorities - largely by never keeping his
opinions to himself - and he married Josephine de Beauharnais.
Commentators have considered this an unusual match ever since.
Continued...
Page > 1, 2,
3,
Notable Family of Napoleon Bonaparte:
Father: Carlo
Buonaparte (1746-85)
Mother: Marie-Letizia
Bonaparte, née Ramolino and Buonaparte (1750 -
1835)
Siblings: Joseph Bonaparte, originally
Giuseppe Buonaparte (1768 - 1844)
Lucien
Bonaparte, originally Luciano Buonaparte (1775 -
1840)
Elisa Bacciochi, née Maria
Anna Buonaparte/Bonaparte (1777 -
1820)
Louis Bonaparte, originally Luigi
Buonaparte (1778 - 1846)
Pauline
Borghese, née Maria Paola/Paoletta
Buonaparte/Bonaparte (1780 -
1825)
Caroline Murat, née Maria
Annunziata Buonaparte/Bonaparte (1782 -
1839)
Jérôme Bonaparte, originally
Girolamo Buonaparte (1784 - 1860)
Wives: Josephine
Bonaparte, née de la Pagerie and Beauharnais (1763 -
1814)
Marie-Louise Bonaparte, formally of
Austria, later von Neipperg (1791 - 1847)
Notable
Lovers: Countess Marie Walewska (d. 1817)
Legitimate
Children: Napoleon II (1811 - 1832)
Recommended Books on Napoleon Bonaparte:
Napoleon by Vincent Cronin
Napoleon:
A Biography by Frank McLynn
The Campaigns of Napoleon
by David Chandler
The Rise and Fall of Napoleon Vol. 1
and 2 by Robert Asprey
Recommended Links on Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon.Org
Home
of the The Fondation Napoléon, this is a tremendous site on
Bonaparte.
The
Napoleonic Guide
Lots of original content and a good
directory of links.
Napoleon
Part
of PBS' Empires series, this is glossy and visual.
Citation And Footnotes:
Title: Napoleon Bonaparte
Author: Robert
Wilde
Date: 2003
